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Cordell Walmsley
Cordell Walmsley, also known as the Blademaster, is an wanted fugitive of Aether, having formally served as the leader of the Aethian Insurgency. He was responsible for the coordinated terror attacks and guerrilla raids on several military outposts and bases. He is notable for his use of propaganda that swayed the majority of Aethian's populace away from the side of the government to support the Insurgency. Before his defection, he was popular for the expansion of Zanjutsu and the creation of several combat forms derived from the art. During the Aethian Civil War, he was leader of the Philosophers, a squad that also served as the main figureheads of the Insurgency. He was also the personal mentor to Anton Semenov. Personality Mannerisms & Hobbies Cordell generally behaves in a calm and passive manner which is reflected in his common tone and voice of choice. He does his best to be polite and mild-mannered, although occasionally he can be accidentally insensitive to the feelings of other people. Although able to speak, he mostly prefers to be quiet until moments in where he feels like he has to talk. This is most prominent when he is speaking to strangers or colleagues he has yet to get close to. But this can change when he is around close friends or family; he can easily get wrapped up in whatever positive attitude they do. However, he can also become angry if he believes someone, especially those he considers to be comrades, to be taking advantage of his kindness. Despite this, he is shown to have a healthy level of patience and can take quite a lot before allowing himself to get overcome by more negative attitudes. When in the midst of combat, he maintains and focuses his concentration into beating the enemy. He rarely allows himself to speak to his enemy out of the belief that combatants will fight more so than they actually talk. However, he will allow himself to talk back whenever an enemy is willing to speak with him. He can get particularly irate with more arrogant and prideful opponents, especially if they make a habit out of taking down to their enemies a lot. However, against more respectful enemies, he will behave more calmly and positively. Even so, he takes pleasure and satisfaction in delivering injury and gaining an advantage over an opponent, although not to a sadistic manner. There are several gesture tics that he uses that can inadvertently show what emotion he's feeling at the time. Whenever he is starting to get irate, he clenches and relaxes both hands for a brief moment and/or takes in a brief breath before exhaling it. When he's thinking about something, he clenches and unfolds them again, but this time starting with the pinkie finger and moving down to the index. Whenever he is nervous or excited, he lightly rocks back and forth. He additionally taps his knees with his palms if he's sitting down. Hobby-wise, he is an avid music listener and prefers to listen to classical and soundscape music the majority of the time in order to keep his mind calm and cool. He does listen to rock music, using it to pump himself up before he enters a battle. On occasions, he will even listen to music while engaging a target to help him concentrate in the midst of combat. In his spare time, he also writes literature and makes a career being a traveling author. Flaws & Issues In his younger years, Cordell was a more zealous and confident person. One of his main goals in life was to become a hero and be heavily revered by the public. Because of the dealings of the government and the somewhat unethical methods of enforcement they had recently taken to conducting on the populace, he started the Aethian Civil War to destroy the corruption and become recognized as a hero for taking down a tyrant's regime. Although he had good intentions in mind, his acquired status as the leader of his own faction and a hero caused him to become more reckless and arrogant in his endeavors. Eventually, his tactics and moves against the Loyalists would cost many of his men their lives - something that other members of the Philosophers had called him out for. He himself lost his left arm to Xavier Longstreak in a duel before getting rescued, effectively dealing a heavy blow to his ego. But the Black Eagle's artillery assault on the Insurgency's base of operations brought an end to his hopes and dreams, opening his eyes to the heavy reality of the war and his actions. The betrayal and abandonment by most of his teammates would crush him and leave him in a long-term state of depression. Even though he has long since come out of it, Cordell doesn't hold as much self-confidence as he used to and dreads going back to the leader's position due to the mistakes he made. Even though he will fight in the event that it is absolutely necessary to do so, he will hesitate to kill out of an embraced value for life. His desire to be an honest man can lead more deceptive souls into tricking him and using him for their own gain. He can still become rather overconfident when it appears that he is winning a battle, although he isn't as bad as he was before. Despite him being able to fight effectively in combat, Cordell has a phobia of bees. Beliefs & Philosophies Cordell holds heavy fascination in knowledge and intelligence, doing whatever he can to understand the world around him a little more. He holds the belief that whoever holds the most knowledge is able to better stand up on two feet and can survive better in society. This strong desire to learn stems from a personally made objective to keep himself from being manipulated by his own urges. At the same time, he values the concept of relying on someone in the event that they are unable to do so themselves. He embraces loyalty and friendship over all else, refusing to let a person close to him suffer just for the sake of personal gain. At the same time, he holds a rather nihilistic view towards the established government of the afterlife because of his experiences in Aether. Although his dream of being a hero has been long discarded, he still holds contempt for the Loyalists and supporters of the Aethian government for their actions against civilians. Though he is quite sociable, he holds a bleak view of society and commonly states that civilization is destroying itself. This can be seen as another reason as to why he no longer has the self-confidence he had prior to the war; he thinks of himself as a contributor to existence's impending demise. One of his books entitled My Life As An Assimilated Entity described his experience in the Plinian Movement and subtly expressed his disappointment at everything having been turned back to normal. History Cordell was brought up as the only child of his father Garvan and mother Jael. As a child, his parents described him as being as "curious as a monkey", always looking into things and nosing where he shouldn't have been. This often got him into trouble with neighbors, but this did nothing to hinder his child curiosity of the world around him. Although this was assumed to be nothing more than a phase, Cordell would continue to exhibit signs of this through his teen years as he was in school. He was rather studious, preferring to spend more time with his nose in the books rather than spend his time outside with other people. However, he did allow himself to socialize with other people who shared his love of music and had spent a good amount of time working with a rock band as a vocalist. In his later teen years, Cordell would join the Royal Aethian Corps and serve for several years, further digging into his studies and going into the field of politics. He would go on to be fluent in a few languages such as Japanese, Spanish and German, learn at least a little bit about other societies, and expand the concept of zanjutsu that had been founded by the Soul Society. His knowledge grew to the point in where both his mind and his combat capabilities eventually placed him in the seat of Knight Commander. As a leader, he carried a constant lean towards professional behavior and did not aim to bond closely with his subordinates out of both his desire to increase his mind's grasp and to emphasize the need for etiquette. But as his career progressed, he would find himself becoming closely acquainted with several other members of Aether's military leadership. The most prominent of his relationships, however would be with initiate Anton Semenov, as he would grow to fill the place of the young man's spiritual mentor and teacher. However, he would eventually learn of the practice of sweeping the homeless off of the streets in order for more soldiers within the army. He also learned about the Dark Reaper Project, a project that seemingly threatened the ethics that the military ran by. However, after hearing the report that Paladin Ariana Sophia was killed and silenced for speaking out, he understood that openly trying to convince the government was out of the question. He seized this opportunity to begin working on a plan to overthrow the government and sway the public against the sponsors of the corrupt management. He gathered many followers, most of which were also disillusioned with how Aether was being run, and used the funds that he had gained as a soldier to began a military build-up. Even so, he would keep up the act of being loyal to the Royal Aethian Corps in order to ensure no suspicion. .]] After a through check of Aether's foundations, Cordell would blow up one of the forts settled within Shinhae to begin what would be known as the Aethian Civil War, making a personal broadcast to both announce its beginning and threaten the leaders of those they identified as Loyalists. Those on his side would be labeled the Aethian Insurgency, making an effort to minimize civilian casualties as they unleashed guerrilla runs on key targets in order to push the Loyalists back. The fighting would eventually spread from Shinhae and onto the other islands as the Insurgents gained more support through the use of propaganda and appeal to the disgust with Aether's government. With continuous hit-and-run tactics, Cordell eventually began pushing the Loyalists out of their comfort spots to the edge of the islands. One of the Insurgency's operations involved a prison break to free prisoners involved with a previous coup d'état initiated by Lord Rey Dorado. However, the status of becoming a hero of the people eventually would eventually get to Cordell's head. He started switching to more open warfare and became unnecessarily aggressive with his advances to take lands. Although the Loyalists were fortunately losing enough ground to be pushed onto the defensive at that point, it started to produce more casualties on their side. This led to Cordell being called out by the other ringleaders of the Insurgency, but he constantly dismissed this. By the time the Insurgency secured most of Aether, their forces were stretched across a thin line. The loose tie of defense would allow some Loyalists to remain within Insurgency-controlled territory, eventually making their way back to the capital city and to the enemy's stronghold. After spying out the situation, the Loyalists sent in Oliver Holmes, who was known as the Black Eagle and one of the government's greatest living weapons at the time. Oliver infiltrated Shinhae and used his Bankai to produce a mass artillery bombardment of the entire city. Because much of the Insurgent's resources were pooled at Shinhae, this would deliver a crippling blow to their ability to produce supplies and troops. Many of the ringleaders had been killed in the bombardment, and within a matter of hours, Shinhae had fallen. This was the signal for the Loyalists to start pushing back against the Insurgents. With a large portion of their leadership destroyed as well as their resources, the Insurgents were pushed back. Cordell himself would lose an arm to Xavier Longstreak in a duel, and the ringleaders would ultimately split up out of growing disagreement and conflict with one another. Desperate to gain some ground back, Cordell managed to locate and pinpoint the Black Eagle's location at what he assumed to be a military base. He sent troops there to attack and burn the entire place to the ground in a bid to kill Oliver. However, what he had failed to realize was that there were civilians that happened to be caught up in the fighting. When he and his troops stormed the building, he discovered the charred remnants of both soldier and civilian bodies, much to the horror of himself and his escorts. He would be the one to find a child Kaitlyn Holmes, who had been left behind forcibly by Oliver after he had failed to find her in time. Shamed and horrified at the atrocity he had committed, he rescued the girl and took her in to help atone for his horrible mistake. He would serve as the girl's adoptive father until she was a young woman, and then she would move out of his care. He would eventually flee Aether some time after the rebellion was quelled, becoming a traveling nomad and constantly running from hunting parties sent out by the Royal Aethian Corps for his capture. Synopsis In Progress... Powers & Abilities Immense Spiritual Power: As a former Knight Captain, Cordell possesses an amount of spiritual energy far greater than what a regular Captain of the Soul Society could achieve. The waves of his spiritual pressure can be felt for great distances, capable of instilling feelings of fear and doubt within weaker-minded individuals. He can even paralyze targets with a simple look or even incapacitate them by focusing the aura of his spiritual pressure in their particular direction. At best, illusions can manifest within their minds to further warp their way of thinking while in his presence. The color of his energy is a brilliant blue, and thanks to a proficient amount of energy control, can manifest in the visage of snowflakes. Keen Strategist & Tactician: Despite the overconfidence and the arrogance he would show in the later stages of the Aethian Civil War, Cordell has a knack for being tactical and strategic when the time calls for it. He had been able to gather many followers while covering up any signs of betrayal and defect from the government, as well as prepare supplies and equipment in order to start the war in the first place. His aggressive yet tactful movements against the Loyalists had them nearly pushed off of the islands of Aether, and it was only because of his overconfidence that they had the ability to counter-attack. Immense Strength: Due to being a former soldier of the Aethian military, Cordell possesses a tremendous degree of physical strength and prowess on the battlefield. The form known as the Bird Form emphasizes his ability to fight off aggressive attacks with only one hand on his sword. The power of his strikes can even cut through some forms of energized attack - something he commonly uses against the likes of Kidō. Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Cordell has masterful skill in the art of sword combat. Because of his expansion of the art zanjutsu, he was able to come up with several different forms and stances that became widely accepted as official styles. As a result, he has been referred to by the moniker of Blademaster - a nickname that had first come up during his Aether military days. He himself uses the form called the "Bird Form", a form that encourages rapid and aggressive sword strikes with one hand while keeping the other free for hand-to-hand combat. Flash Steps Expert: While not the most skilled, Cordell possesses considerable skill in the use of Flash Step. He can move very quickly to evade considerably fast attacks as well as take more careless enemies off their guard. Zanpakutō Kurushimi (苦しみ, Burden) is the name of Cordell's Zanpakutō. It takes the form of a standard katana with a red handle and a black, rose-shaped guard. *'Shikai:' Kurushimi is activated by the release command Allow Me To Suffer (私は苦しむ作る, Watashi wa kurushimu tsukuru). He spins it around in one hand as it shifts into its released form and stops once it has finished. In its released state, the blade has grown to a length of a nodachi, with the handle having elongated somewhat as well. The guard has gained the red color of the handle as well as silver rings that are hooked in one of its holes. This is matched by two silver rings hooked into the bottom of the handle. The base of the blade is flanked by four small thorn-like appendages. :Shikai Special Ability: Kurushimi is a defense-type Zanpakutō. Its main ability is to reward Cordell for every injury made to his person. Minor blows sustained from punches and kicks enhance the physical strength and power behind his attacks, although the rate of increase is rather slow at best and requires many strikes for him to make a significant difference in the field of battle. Stab, slash and puncture wounds share the pain Kurushimi accumulates with the assailant - a trait that is particularly prominent when a limb is cut off. Broken bones or other forms of internal injury will result in the enemy's body being paralyzed for a total of ten seconds. Burns will absorb the fire or any other offending element into the blade and ignite it, allowing Cordell to use the substance to enhance his melee attacks. The element used is proportionate to the severity of the burns. Invasion and attack of the mind will result in a psychological attack on the enemy, depending on the severity of what Cordell's mind suffers. The more pain suffered by Cordell increases the effectiveness of these abilities. But, although the main consequence of this is the pain itself, there is another; Kurushimi can only reward for one category of injury at a time. Cordell can switch between categories at any time, but cannot choose two or more simultaneously. *'Bankai: Byōdō no Itami' (平等の痛み, Pain of Equality) is the name of Kurushimi's true form. It takes the form of a scythe with several ribbons tied to the top end of the staff. Most notably, Byōdō no Itami will only activate if Cordell is at the brink of death or insanity during the use of his Shikai. It will be here that all the wounds inflicted onto Cordell's person will be healed and his being restored back to his former glory. :Bankai Special Ability: Upon activation, Byōdō no Itami will send out a transparent pulse of energy that can stretch as far as an entire city. Anyone who is within that radius will be hit by the pulse, although it is initially harmless. Its effect stabilizes those who have made contact with it in order to put them under the influence of the Bankai. Those under his influence are made to obey the "rules" of the Bankai, which emphasize the concept of equivalent exchange. The rules are listed as such: :*An attack that is nigh unavoidable will have considerably less power than what the user intended. Simultaneously, attacks with massive power will be slowed down according to how much power is put into the attack. :*Attacks capable of laying ruin to massive structures or areas will drastically sap the user's stamina and energy, and regardless of how much it has, one or two repeats of such attacks will leave the user in a severely exhausted state and even threaten its life. :*Regenerative abilities sap the energy of an enemy, and the drain will be proportionate to the size of the injury healed. If a mortally wounding blow is fully healed, it will be as draining as an attack with massive power put behind it. :*Wounds will produce much more pain, ensuring that they are not ignored. In addition, continuous regeneration will reduce the user's life-span. :*Barriers produced can only defend against specific targets. If it is made primarily for defense against a physical attack, it cannot defend against an energized one. Likewise, if it can provide effective defense against energy attacks, it will do no good against physical ones. :Although Cordell does not have to worry about needing pain or injury to use any of these abilities, the Bankai itself takes a great deal of energy to maintain. Therefore, it is effectively useless in prolonged fights. Even if Cordell defeats his opponents before a battle can drag on too long, he will still be severely drained of energy and will even fall unconscious after he reseals his Zanpakutō, leaving him vulnerable to later attacks. Because of the requirement for energy maintenance, Cordell often has to stick to purely melee attacks against his enemy in order to ensure tha he has enough power to maintain the Bankai. In addition, the Bankai's influence not just extends to his enemies, but his allies as well. This can put an effective hinder on strategies his comrades make as much as it can hinder the enemy. Trivia *Cordell's picture portrayal is Fullmetal Alchemist characters Isaac McDougal and Solf J. Kimblee, as well as Rurouni Kenshin character Seta Sōjirō. *Cordell's personality and backstory, although serving as my author avatar, is also inspired by Spec Ops: The Line protagonist Captain Martin Walker. Quotes References Category:Male Category:Shinigami Category:Rogue Shinigami